Anakin's Decision
by VanG Ziggy ZA
Summary: We all know what happened to this Jedi at the end of Episode III, but what MIGHT have happened had he decided NOT to turn to the dark side? One Shot goodness


_**ANAKIN'S DECISION**_

_**Ziggy's Corner: This is one of the few times I've written a Star Wars fan fic. This is an AU story right after the death of Mace Windu. I hope you enjoy it.**_

Anakin fell down, his hands shaking. "What have I done?" he asked, his voice quivering, barely audible through the ominous thunder plaguing Coruscant's skies.

The dark shadow fell over him, looking at him approvingly. "You are full filling your destiny," it croaked, his voice laden with hate and anger, laced with delicious revenge.

Anakin looked up at Darth Sidious and blinked. "What are you talking about? How could my destiny bring the death of a friend?"

Sideous frowned, the lines in his deformed face growing wider now. "Friend?" he croaked. "The man did not trust you, he did not even tell you that your mission was to spy on me in public, not one bit of confidence did he even offer you, though you were the Chosen One." Sidious smiled evilly. "He was jealous of you, son."

"That didn't make it right for me to do what I did," Anakin said, feeling the pains of sorrow and anger build. His head snapped up toward the Sith Lord. "Nor what you did, for that matter."

"He was trying to kill me, I had a right to defend myself," Sideous croaked.

"But he was defenseless, he could not harm you without his light saber," Anakin protested. Sidious practically hissed.

"Must we really get into this again, Anakin? The powers of the Force are dangerous, our bodies are not what make up our true selves, we are luminous spirits, surely the Jedi taught you this? That Jedi could have used the Force to attack me further, as he tried to assassinate me." The old man narrowed his eyes, "I told you they were not to be trusted, that their narrow minded philosophies would lead them to something like this when they found out what I was."

"Yes, you did…," Anakin said, his mind clogged with thought, confused. "But I…,"

"Clearly your mind, son, you will realize what I am saying is the truth, only then can you be ready to embrace the powers of the Dark Side."

Padme, he had to think of her. "Will you help me save her?" he begged the dark spirit.

"Only one other has been able to achieve such a power, but I know if we work together we can unlock it's secrets," Sidious said with a grin.

"You said you murdered your master after learning his secrets," Anakin snapped, anger rising in his voice. He'd been betrayed.

"I learned the secrets I could, there were things that it was obvious to me that not even I could be allowed to learn," Sidious growled again, his eyes barely visible under his hood. "You must let me teach you the path to power."

He was weak, and wavering, Padme and his child was all that he could think of, not even the Jedi would stand between him and his loved ones. Then he could hear Obi-Wan's voice in his head.

_Come to your senses, what would Padme do if she were here?_

_She would do her duty_, Anakin mentally thought.

_And what is your duty, my young padawan … my brother?_

_As a Jedi, my duty is to the Republic, to democracy, as the Chosen One, my duty is to bring balance to the Force._

_Anakin, for nearly a millennium, the Dark Side has been hiding, slowly pushing inward toward the light, to smother it without those who basked in its light realizing it. The Dark Side has brought imbalance to the Force, and must be dealt with._

Anakin could remember what Master Yoda had told him as well, "Do not despair for those who pass, rather rejoice in their joining the Force."

Would Padme actually be happy if Anakin had joined with the Sith to save her life? He exhaled, and blew out the air. "I will not join your path," Anakin said, rising to his feet. He faced the old man whom he considered like a father for over thirteen years and ignited his bright blue light saber. "As Master Windu said before me, you are under arrest my lord." He pointed the blade at Sidious and waited.

Hate was filled in the Sith Lord's body, hate that was both his own, but as well as his two apprentices' Maul and Tyrannus, but also of his own master, Plagius. "You realize that if me over to the JedI, you lose any chance of saving Padme."

"Better to let her die, than drown in the Dark Side's rule," Anakin said, hating himself for letting those words out, but determined to follow through with them. _I'm sorry Padme, I tried so hard to save you._

"And you know, they will discover just how my apprentice actually died, as well as those Sandpeople on Tatooine?" Sidious growled. "Honestly, the only way to save yourself Anakin is to join with me." Sidious smiled and glared down at that blue blade, hating it, hating the color, though he knew even Exar Kun, one of the greatest of the Sith Lords ever used a blue blade, as well as a double bladed Sith light saber.

"I am through thinking about myself when there are other's in danger of something worse than death," Anakin snapped.

Sidious narrowed his eyes, all his planning, all his waiting, it was over. "Fool," he hissed, and shot out Force lightning from his fingers. As Mace Windu had done before him, Anakin caught the blast with his blade and held on tight, his muscles aching from the pressure. "Now you know the power of the Dark Side," Sidious cackled. "This is what could have been your's, son."

"I'm not your son," Anakin growled, surging forward and sending the Sith rocking backward, taken back.

He'd expected Anakin to tap into his anger, to his rage, to push him back. It was how Kun had been tricked into falling and embracing the path, but Anakin was no Exar Kun. His strength came through determination to save those who he loved from a so called evil known as the Dark Side. Sidious leapt into the air, and flipped over the Jedi, summoning his second blade, and snatching it into his hand. "The JedI will fall, even if I must start with you!"

Their blades met with such force that the ground beneath their feet cracked. Back and forth they fought, Sidious brining chairs and tables aimed for Anakin's head, to try and confuse him, but the Jedi was determined to keep his focus. They're blades met again, and again, slamming and pressing against each other, sweat pouring from Anakin's skin from the pressure and the heat of the two blades.

The fight made its way from Palpatine's apartment, to outside those doors, to his office, where Anakin saw the dead bodies of three other Jedi, he felt rage burn at his throat, but forced it down to keep his focus. Again Sidious tried to get him to tap into that delicious rage and anger, again he was tempted, and back peddled as the Sith Lord took to the offensive, but Anakin was determined not to lose.

Sidious' offensive came to an end moments after it had begun, and the Sith Lord faced a power even his own master could never hope to dream of. He felt his own tight muscles weaken for the first time in his life since his first number of duels. He swallowed, he'd been the Sith Lord for over thirty years, murdering his master in his sleep in his very early twenties. In all that time, only Plagius had been the one to best him in light saber duels, time and time again. He had grown impatient at it, and feared that his master might have grown impatient with him, looking for a new apprentice to replace him with. He swiped with his blade with one hand, and used lightning with his other, hoping to catch Anakin by surprise, but the boy seemed almost as if to read his mind, and dodged the lightning, snaking his way inward toward the Sith Lord's body, and nearly chopping him in half. Still he could detect no sign of rage or anger. It was just pure determination, and that determination was overcoming the strongest resources of Sidious' hate.

His robes had long since fallen from his deformed body, and he could feel sweat trickle down from his spider web like silver hair, which clung to his skull like head. His golden eyes watched the boy match him, move for move, and he knew it was nearly over. If he did not do something now, he would lose. Sidious scanned his apartment, which they had fought back into, and caught sight of a chair which had been knocked over. Using what might he had left, he rose it into the air and flung it at Anakin, who turned to face it and send it soaring out into the night. But it was the diversion Sidious both wanted and needed. He turned his light saber off, hid it, and turned to the exit.

Dashing toward the door, he tore it open, and at the top of his lungs called for a squadron of clones to come to his aide. "The Jedi have gone mad!" he screeched. "They're trying to kill me!" Twenty well armed white armored men poured into the room, and Sidious pointed toward Anakin, backing away from him as the men moved forward. "Arrest him for treason," he barked.

He turned and fled, the sounds of blaster fire and the hum of light saber met each other in a single song of death and destruction. He knew the clones weren't any match for Anakin, but hoped their seer numbers might give him the time he needed to escape, his dark heart hating the boy, hating the Jedi, who would no doubt use this incident to take to the Senate, and undue the thirteen years of what he tried to accomplish. Once in space, he'd order the clones to execute Order 66, killing what JedI were on other planets, but he also knew that the Senate would swiftly be taken over by his opponents too. A civil war would erupt from the ashes of the old civil war. The Republic and the Jedi versus the Sith Lord and his legion of Clone Troopers. If he could just get to one of the planets his governors held tightly, he could turn this around, the public would not need to know the truth, and he could sway opinion to turn against the Senate, effectively disbanding it. Yes, that could work to his advantage!

He reached his ship and would have entered it, had it not slid across the docking bay and veered to the lower streets of the planet. Frustration hit him in the chest, and the Sith Lord rumbled angrily as he reached yet again for his blade. Now there was no hope for him. It would be a fight to the finish, unless he could convince the boy he would give up, surrender to the Jedi, and bide his time to let his followers in the Senate and the Courts do what they could to turn sentiment against the Jedi.

"I will not let you destroy the Republic," Anakin barked, his blade glowing with holy blue energy. "I will give you another chance, surrender."

Sidious smiled wickedly and extinguished his own blade. "You win, son," he gasped for air, his voice barely audible. He dropped his blade, listening to it thud as it hit the ground, and dropped to his knees. "I surrender. I only wanted what was best for both you and the Republic, and for you."

Anakin seemed distracted for a moment, and then seemed to relax. "You wanted what was best for you. A Sith only thinks of themselves, not others."

"But by thinking of myself, I could use such knowledge to end corruption," Sidious said, still innerly hoping to sway the boy.

"Is that why you started the war, had millions murdered and made homeless?" Anakin growled.

"Sacrifices had to be made, son. For the survival of the fittest, the weakest had to be weeded out," Sidious said with a bone thin smile.

"So you don't care for the weak?"

"Of course not, the government must be strong to spread its influence, who cares if certain species, or individuals get in the way of that, all that matters is what greatness we will make of ourselves," Sidious snapped.

"Who cares?" Anakin snapped, walking closer to Sidious, his blade illuminating the evil etched on the old man's face. "And what of your army, of the clones and the people of the Republic who gave their lives for you?"

"Be realistic boy, they're tools, nothing more," Sidious howled.

"I think the Senate will care my lord," a strong, noble voice said from behind Sidious. The Sith Lord turned his head to see Bail Organa with a legion of troopers standing around him. In his hand, Bail was holding a recorder, which he had been planning to use to send a message to his wife on Alderran. He was thankful he had kept it in his speeder when he saw the flashes of light in the Chancellor's apartment, and had brought a legion of troopers with him. "I think the good Chancellor has had enough of power for a life time, take him away."

Sidious growled inhumanly, and turned his attention to a widely smiling Anakin. He'd planned this, ever since he had seen Organa behind him. With all the hate he could muster, Sidious leapt to his feet and called his blade to his hands, only to feel the sting of Anakin's blade slice through his bones. Still not done, lightning surrounded him, turning him into a creature of pure energy. Pain filled his frame as he dashed for Anakin, ignoring Organa's orders to stop him, or the blasts of the treasonous troopers weapons. He latched on to Anakin and nearly lifted him toward the edge of his balcony, laughing insanely.

Using what strength he had left, Anakin shifted his weight, and used the Force to launch them both off the side of the building. They flailed in the air, kicking and punching each other, until Anakin managed to reach out and grasped a cord holding on for dear life. Sidious dropped a few more feet, and grabbed onto a window pane, and glared up. With his weak muscles, he pulled himself up further and further, stopping as a tight hand clutched his wrist. He turned and saw his first pupil, glaring at him with orange eyes.

"Hello master," Maul monitoned, his spirit dark and vengeful. Another hand grasped at Sidious, and he turned to face Tyrannus, his body surrounded with a ghostly light.

"Much to speak about," the old man snarled.

"Let me go," Sidious growled. "This fight is not over!"

"No Sidious, the fight is over, you failed me," a third voice growled animalistic ally. The Sith Lord turned and paled as he looked at the Muun with dark yellow eyes. Darth Plagius narrowed his eyes. "You have failed our order! And now it is time for you to explain to the Dark Side, why."

The three demonic forms ripped a terrified and screaming Sidious from the building, and plunged down with him into the shadows.

Anakin watched the evil old man fall to his death, and clutched desperately for life, before submitting to his own weak body, and dropped, like Sidious before him, he was caught by strong hands, but these were not vengeful hands full of hate and betrayal. He looked up and saw Bail smile down at him as he and two clone troopers pulled the young man into the speeder.

_**STAR WARS**_

Weeks had past. Slowly the Council and the Senate both had learned what had transpired over the last thirteen to fifteen years. Many of Palpatine's cohorts were quickly weeded out, and brought to trial, many corrupted judges were thrown out of power, and sent to jail. Palpatine's governors either fled, surrendered, or dug in with the clone troopers that continued to stay loyal to Palpatine and rebooted Destroyer droids taken from Seperatist armies. A new kind of war was being waged, but it looked a lot more promising than what the Clone War ever had.

Anakin was put before the Council, where they learned just how Dooku had died, as well as the deaths of the Tusken Warriors, and his marriage to Padme. Though they were grateful to the young Jedi, he had broken many laws and rules of both the JedI and the Republic. He was put on trial, defended by Obi-Wan, and the best lawyers that Padme could afford. Nearly a year in a half, the trial ended with a deadlock. Anakin was free to go, given an honorary title of Master by the Temple, but told that he could no longer stay among their active ranks.

He thought it would be sadder than that, or be more frustrated, but the truth was, he was tired, and happy to see the whole madness end. The Republic granted him a rank of Colonel, and pressed him in charge of military affairs of Naboo, where he now resided, next to his wife, and to his surprise his twin children, Luke and Leia. The Jedi Temple, after much debate decided he would be allowed to train the children, with aide from an official proctor. Not surprisingly, Obi-Wan agreed to take on the role, and became the master of Anakin's son, Luke, while the JedI Master's best friend and brother, Anakin in turn trained his daughter Leia in the ways of the Force.

And with that the Chosen One settled into the life of a JedI Master, Republican Military Beaucratic, official husband, and father. Balance had been returned to the Force.

Or so it seemed. Somewhere in the far outer reaches of the Galaxy, a young woman with pale white skin, head as bald as a baby's bottom, and fury as cold as night awoke form her confrontation with Obi-Wan and Anakin on Coruscant.

The Dark Side would not be so easy to kill, it was a plague, a ruthless determination with a lust for power. Asajj Ventress had woken up from her Sith coma, and instructed the pilot to take her away from the planet. With hatred in her veins, the dark young woman learned the death of Sidious and Tyrannus, and decided to take revenge. That night, the Sith Lady, Darth Urot was born.

_**And so ends this one shot, with a possible sequal in the works if the people want it. If I get enough reviews, there will most definitely be one. So read, review, and let me know how I did!**_


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